基督教（包括《新約》）和猶太教的正典經書。除個別段落外，都是西元前1200～西元前100年期間用希伯來文寫成。分爲三大部分∶1.律法書或摩西五經，內容有敘事、規條和訓誨；2.先知書，記載希伯來重要歷史人物事蹟及規勸以色列人復歸上帝的諸先知事蹟；3.聖錄，包括詩歌、神學著作及戲劇。希伯來正典總計爲二十四卷，天主教及基督教新教所收著作多於此數。天主教正典吸收一些後來爲猶太教和新教斷爲非正典的經書（參閱apocrypha）；新教則將希伯來正典中若干卷分爲兩卷或多卷∶〈撒母耳記〉、〈列王紀〉及〈歷代志〉各分爲上下兩卷，〈以斯拉－尼希米記〉分爲〈以斯拉記〉和〈尼希米記〉，〈十二先知書〉分別析爲十二卷。 Sacred scriptures of Judaism and, with the New Testament, of Christianity. Written almost entirely in the Hebrew language between 1200 and 100 BC, the Old Testament (also called the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh) is an account of God's dealings with the Hebrews as his chosen people. In the Hebrew Bible, the first six books tell how the Israelites became a people and settled in the Promised Land, the following seven books describe the development of Israel's monarchy and the messages of the prophets, and the last 11 books contain poetry, theology, and some additional historical works. Christians divided some of the original Hebrew books into two or more parts, specifically, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles (two parts each), Ezra-Nehemiah (two separate books), and the Minor Prophets (12 separate books). The content of the Old Testament varies according to religious tradition, the Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Protestant canons all differing from each other as to which books they include.
